Report
Meeting at Building 9, VAMC Campus
Call to order – 9:30, Invocation – Pledge of Allegiance
Greetings: Recognition of visitors and guests
Announcements -Jerry Kyser, Chair, Mike Rivard, Vice Chair.
Introducing Harold Standley with the Wounded Warrior project
Introducing Scott Braden from the St Paul Vet Center.
Introducing Joel Welter, MN director of the Helmets to Hardhats project.
Introducing James Douglas with the National Guard Association.
1. Federal Agencies
VISN 23 – Director Janet Murphy – Jason Petti Reporting
*The VA is transitioning to the new Community Care network. We do not have an effective date yet. One big change is that the medical center will have a lot more ownership related to making and scheduling appointments, customer relations, and as such.
*Our priorities this year are suicide prevention, education, prosthetics, and access to foundational services.
*5,800 veterans were treated for Hepatitis C.
*VISN ranked 3rd in the nation for telehealth encounters and 1st in the nation for tele-audiology.
*VISN 23 was first in the nation for work with the ammie app, responsible for 60% of encounters and enrollments in the country. The ammie app also does text messages.
*6 of our 8 facilities have been listed among the 50 Best Places to Work.
*Concerning End of Life Care and the percentage of patient deaths for patients who are in hospice vs. those in the ICU, VISN is ranked the best in the nation. We have more veterans who pass away in hospice care than the ICU.
*Surgery and patient satisfaction scores are high.
*We are a five star network.
*Veteran satisfaction scores:
Ease of getting to clinic while on the phone: 81.5% Courtesy of registration staff: 97%
Information about delays: 90% Staff feel protected: 97%
Concerns for patient privacy: 97% Staff working together: 97%
Likelihood of recommending clinical practice: 96%
Q. Do you have any big issues?
A. Nothing major.
Q. How is the money issue?
A. We are still on a continuing resolution, but all our healthcare operations are funded. Because of what happened in 2014, we have a two-year appropriation for services. We are hoping to get an FY18 budget passed.
VA Regional Office – Kim Graves Reporting
*Our authorized staffing level at the regional office is 901 FTE.
*The Appeals Modernization Act was passed last August will go into effect in February of 2019. While we are ramping up to full implementation, we are offering veterans who are currently in the applet process some opportunities to opt into the new program. This will hopefully streamline the appeals process. Letters are being mailed out every month, starting with veterans who had the oldest appeals in the system, and therefore our MN veterans are not getting a lot of those letters just yet. Our appeals are in much better shape than other parts of the country. As of this past month, letters are being sent out to veterans with older appeals but also veterans who have filed Notices of Disagreement.
*The Decision Ready Claim program is still in full swing. Thus far, 628 claims have been filed throughout the nation. A full 1/3rd of those came from Minnesota. Average time to complete those claims after being received is a little over nine days.
*We continue to process claims from Camp Lejeune. About 1200 claims have been filed since the program went into effect.
*The regional office and the Minneapolis Medical Center will be holding a joint Town Hall meeting in March. An exact date and location will be forthcoming.
*In partnership with the Minneapolis Medical Center, we will be hosting a Vietnam Veterans Recognition on March 29th in the Flag Atrium at the Medical Center. We will also be offering a claims clinic from 9 to 3 PM.
VAHCS Minneapolis – Director Patrick J. Kelly – Ralph Heussner, Mike Rosecran Reporting
*On February 22nd, we will be opening our second super clinic in Primary Care on 4F. The super clinics will offer primary care, mental health, vision, pharmacy, and social services all in one area.
*There will be an open house at the Shakopee clinic on February 22nd from 11 to 1 PM. Veterans and the public are invited to attend. Services include primary care, mental health, counseling, podiatry, imaging services, home medicine, education, and others. This is the first of a series of open houses we will be doing.
*The annual Salute to Hospitalized Veterans will be February 14th at 10 AM.
*The Minneapolis VA received their ALS certification and has been named a Certified Treatment Center of Excellence by the ALS association. The Minneapolis VA is the forth MN healthcare system to receive the designation.
St. Cloud VA HCS – Director Stephen D. Black – David Hintgen Reporting
*We also have a Salute to Veteran Patients going on the week of February 12th.
*February 15th is the Go Red For Women event, sponsored by the St. Cloud VA to learn about heart disease in women.
*February 20th will be our Vietnam Veteran Recognition event in Alexandria, MN. It will be at 5:00 PM at the VFW.
Ft. Snelling Cemetery – Bob Razor Reporting
*In January, we performed 325 internments. There were 3 female veterans and the war periods were as follows: 47 WWII, 52 Korea, 52 Vietnam, 3 Persian Gulf, 10 peacetime, and 161 dependents.
*A clean sweep of the national cemetery was performed on February 4th.
*Our National Scheduling Center is having issues with the phone lines so in the interim, Ft. Snelling will be doing our scheduling in-house for the next two to three months. We are in the process of getting the word out.
*There were 131 rifle salutes in January, bringing the total to just shy of 7,400.
Q. How is the Saturday pilot going?
A. So far, we have not been very active. However, we expected this for the winter months but are looking forward to more. The program will probably be here to stay.
Q. Do they do the rifle salute on Saturdays?
A. Right now, not consistently.
Q. How many times does the Memorial Rifle Squad appear in a day?
A. During the winter, around 10 to 12.
Vets Employment and Training Services [VETS] – David Seay
*Not present.
2. Federal Congressional Representatives
Senator Amy Klobuchar – Kurt Johnson – Greg Swanholm Reporting
*We finished our Service Academy nominations, with fifty nomination slots to four academies.
*We are continuing to play close attention to the sequester.
Senator Tina Smith – Alex Schueller Reporting
*Smith has agreed to take on the Atomic Veterans Healthcare Parity Act.
*Smith has signed onto a letter in regards to mental healthcare and a letter requesting the incorporation of military criminal records to be put into the FBI database. Additionally, she has signed onto the letter for concern over incarcerated veterans.
*Smith cosponsored the Deborah Sampson Act, a bill that fills critical gaps in the VA care for women veterans.
Q. Concerning the DOD bill, who can put attachments on that bill?
A. That is procedural. The rules committee is in charge of that.
Q. Where is the senator’s office?
A. The Hart building.
1st District Representative – Tim Walz – Shawn Schoesser Reporting
*Not present.
2nd District Representative – Jason Lewis – Angela Sedlacek Reporting
*Mike Rivard sent out an email concerning the survey that queried Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and their priorities for the State of the Union Address, which I would like to reiterate here. The top priority was suicide prevention and mental health. The Veteran’s Crisis Act of 2017 would require the VA to conduct a study on the outcome and advocacy of the veteran’s crisis hotline. The Vet’s Act would give the secretary the authority to allow VA providers to practice telemedicine across state lines. Veteran Urgent Access to Healthcare Act would require the VA to provide an initial mental health assessment and any subsequent mental health services to meet any urgent healthcare needs for service members who would otherwise be ineligible for such services; for example, if they had a less than honorable discharge.
*The Hire Vets Act requires the Department of Labor to establish a hire vets medallion program to recognize companies for their efforts to employ veterans. This program was just launched recently.
*Concerning medical marijuana research, Lewis supports more research into the medical benefits. He has been an advocate of medical cannabis and would like to see the VA be able to utilize this for patients. Currently, doctors are prevented from discussing this with veterans even in states where medical marijuana is legal.
*The burn pits were 7th in the survey mentioned above. In 2018, the NDAA Conference Report – which was supported by Lewis – was signed into law and included language directing the VA to coordinate efforts to better understand the effects associated with burn pits and treat veterans who become sick after exposure.
*We nominated 30 students for the Service Academies, with some receiving nominations to multiple academies. 10 students received nominations to the US Military Academy, 10 students received nominations to the Naval Academy, 10 received nominations to the Air Force Academy, and 6 received the US MMA. There will be a meet and greet in February to congratulate the students.
3rd District Representative – Erik Paulsen – Margaret Cavanaugh Reporting
*We had our annual reception for Academy nominees several weeks ago. So far, we have 5 appointments to West Point, with 2 on the waiting list. There are 3 appointments for the Navy and 1 for the Air Force.
*The session dates for the Navy’s Summer Seminar are June 2nd to the 7th, June 9th to the 14th, and June 16th to the 21st.
4th District Representative – Betty McCollum – Connie Haddeland Reporting
*We wanted to thank the VA regional office for their tutorial on the Rapid Appeals Modernization program.
*We have 4 students who have signed up to attend their respective academies and are waiting to hear back from the Air Force.
*Congress passed the NDAA this year. McCollum sits on Defense Appropriations and House Appropriations. The House of Representatives passed all the appropriations bills and sent them over to the senate. There has been no action by the senate.
5th District Representative – Keith Ellison – Mike Siebenaler
*Not present.
6th District Representative – Tom Emmer – Alejandra Henriquez Reporting
*After the shutdown, congress is dealing with short-term funding extension and the proposed CR appears to be headed towards the senate after the February 3rd vote. It includes a full fiscal year of funding for the department of defense, including a 2.4% raise of pay for our troops.
7th District Representative – Collin Peterson – Meg Louwagie
*Not present.
8th District Representative – Rick Nolan – Rick Olseen
*Not present.
3. State Agencies and MN Veteran Assistance Organizations
MN Dept of Veteran Affairs – Commissioner Larry Shellito – Ben Johnson Reporting
*February 20th is the beginning of the legislative session. Priorities will be bonding, infrastructure, state projects, taxes, healthcare, colleges, and k-12 funding. This is a bonding session. For the purposes of veteran issues, we requested asset preservation dollars for our existing veteran homes. We are focusing on veterans homes for the moment.
Disabled American Veterans Department of MN – Trent Dilks Reporting
*We have been working on the Veterans Day on the Hill. UVLC, MACV, and the Commander’s Task Force are joining together to work on this event. Veterans Day on the Hill is March 12th.
*We are working on a busing plan and there will be 5 metro-area park and ride buses in order to deal with the parking issue. These will be free.
*Buses will be coming from Duluth, Bemidji, Akin, St. Cloud, Rochester, and Mankato, among others. More information will be posted on the DAV website and Facebook page. The official flier and booklet will be released soon. Please spread the word and come help support us on March 12th.
*There will be a free pre-rally breakfast from 8 to 10 AM in the Veteran Services building on the fifth floor. No pre-registration required.
*There will be six regional rooms this year, split by CVSO districts. We hope this will make organization easier. The information will be on the DAV website.
Q. What is the website?
A. http://davmn.org
MN Military Affairs – Lieutenant Colonel Brian Winter Reporting
* Lieutenant Colonel Brian Winter is replacing Lieutenant Colonel Joe Sharkey and Major Scott Ingalsbe.
*The MN National Guard supported the safety and security efforts Super Bowl 52 at the request of the governor’s office and the Minneapolis police department. More than 400 MN guardsmen were in attendance and assisted in providing pedestrian safety, traffic control, security at key venues, security of infrastructure, and transportation.
*The 148th Fighter Wing out of Duluth provided combat air patrols over the US Bank stadium during the event.
*The Department of Military Affairs is finishing up our adjutant general’s legislative priorities for 2018. Those priorities fall into the following three categories: soldier, airman, and family support, equipment, and facilities. Some of the key initiatives we’ll be working with in support of those priorities include TriCare Reserve Select for National Guard Federal Technicians, reduced retirement age eligibility for the reserve component who mobilized under 12304B.
*We are continuing our efforts to pursue modernization for our C-130 fleet at the 133rd Airlift Wing.
*With the Army National Guard, we are focused on recapitalization modernization efforts for our Humvee fleet.
*Under facilities, construction of an aircraft shelter in Duluth at the 148th Fighter Wing.
*We will be traveling to Capitoll Hill with Major General Jensen at the end of February to meet with our 10 Codel offices.
*We recently had a visit from the office of the Chief of Staff of the Army’s Soldier for Life program. They met with our Beyond the Yellow Ribbon staff to get a briefing on Minnesota’s Beyond the Yellow Ribbon program.
*We are currently working with Land O’Lakes and the St. Cloud VA to become Yellow Ribbon companies. Several state agencies are interested in going through the Yellow Ribbon company process, including the Department of Revenue, the Department of Transportation, and the Department of Human Services.
*We have a combined deployment/welcome home ceremony on February 10th at 10 AM at the Minneapolis Convention Center for the outgoing 47 RSG Group and the incoming 257th Military Police Company.
Q. Has the money been given back to the Military Radio Network?
A. I do not know, but I will look into it.
Q. What about the money that was pulled from the Honor Flights?
A. I will look into it.
MN Assistance Council For Veterans (MACV) – Jon Lovald Reporting
*There is a Webenar happening on February 8th concerning veteran homelessness called Heading Home Together.
*The Holes for Heroes event in Lake Mille Lacs will be held on February 10th. This is not a MACV event, but we are supporting it.
*The Anoka legal clinic will be held on March 1st.
*March 6th is Homeless Day on the Hill.
*Our first Stand Down of the year will be held on April 25th at Fergus Falls.
*In 2017, MACV added 910 new clients to the people we directly assisted. This does not include people we referred to other providers. Overall, the total number of clients who received direct assistance from MACV was 1,482. In January, we added 75 new clients and have 500 clients carrying over from 2017. One way we are addressing these numbers is through Master Leasing, which aids veterans in reaching landlords. We will provide case management for clients during the process.
*The MN Homeless Veteran Registry currently has 200 names on it.
*We are having issues with other support organizations who are not signing their clients up for coordinated entry. This is hurting programs that need coordinated entry in order to receive funding. We will put this into a specific request soon.
Q. Are you doing anything to enhance your assets concerning Elder Law?
A. This has been brought up to our Vet Law team. We are looking for more lawyers who can assist us specifically on this topic.
Military Action Group (MAG) – Jerry Kyser Reporting
*The MAG meeting is February 12th at 10:00 AM at the state office building.
Women Veterans Initiative – Jill Troutner Reporting
*Women Veterans Initiative is once again hosting the Women Veteran of the Year Award through Veteran Voices. Please submit your nominations.
*The DAV has signed the Homegrown Heroes contract with the MN Lynx.
Minnesota Paralyzed Veterans – Todd Kemery Reporting
*We applaud Trent Dilks’s efforts to make this Veterans Day on the Hill on March 12th possible.
St. Paul Vets Center – Scott Braden Reporting
*Currently we are without a director, and are looking to fill the position.
*Please let your veterans know about our organization. We work with veterans on an individual counseling basis and then try to get them into groups. We also provide activities for veterans to combat isolation, including an event at Afton Alps on February 16th.
*Combat veterans, military sexual trauma cases, and bereavement cases are eligible for our help.
*We host Golf for Veterans days with Brooklyn Park, Guitars for Vets, and Vets on the River.
Q. Are you seeing any noticeable trends?
A. There are always issues with PTSD and people trying to work their issues out in isolation. Thankfully we have been able to direct our vets to different agencies to meet their specific needs.
YMCA Twin Cities (Minneapolis) – Amanda Hooper Reporting
*Amanda Hooper runs the Veterans Initiative and the Veterans Outreach and Military Service Program for the YMCA of the greater Twin Cities. She was recently appointed as the National Working Group project coordinator for Y of the USA to get a veterans and military working group in motion for YMCA of the greater USA. This would allow the YMCA to create a national initiative to have a military and veterans program outlined online.
*In 2017, we put our grant through, had a Town Hall meeting where we worked with our MOU at the VA hospital, and we are hoping to put other Town Hall meetings in 2018. We have 26 locations across the Twin Cities if your organizations need space for events.
*Our main goal is to reach out to other 501c19s so we can coordinate events.
*The Maplewood community center is now run by the YMCA and are planning on holding a Veterans Resources and Wellness expo day in the spring. A date has not yet been set. More details will be forthcoming. Contact us if you are interested in being involved.
*There will be a resource fair in May. There was a large disability claims clinic at the town hall in Forest Lake and hope to continue this.
*Our new facility recently opened in downtown, the Dayton YMCA. Our new Equity and Innovation Center is now open to the public to help with innovation and equality certification programs.
Historic Fort Snelling – Tom Pfannenstiel Reporting
*Our revitalization efforts continue for the 200th anniversary of the fort. This will be the first bicentennial in the state of MN. It is the largest project the MN Historical Society has done in 25 years.
*We are on the legislative agenda for 2018 and thank Jerry Kyser and other UVLC organizations for their continued support.
*Please thank Governor Dayton for including our project in the bonding bill for this session.
*Volunteer opportunities are available.
County Veteran Service Officers – St. Pres. Robby Robinson Reporting
*The topic for Robby Robinson’s MN Military Radio appearance this month will be Veterans Day on the Hill.
*We have found some language issues with the Property Tax Exclusion that will be addressed with the legislature.
*We have been working with service organizations to get House Bill 4242 moving forward and get the Mayo Clinic back on board.
*We are working with the VA for telemedicine opportunities for veterans out in the counties.
*We are working with the Mayo Clinic for a fall prevention program for veterans who have prosthetics below the knee and tend to fall.
*The Mayo Clinic is looking into performing some TBI studies with veterans. More information will be forthcoming.
Veterans Resilience Project – Elaine Wynne Reporting
*Contact elaine@resiliencemn.org for more information.
*There was a pilot program previously with good results.
*Next month there will be an unveiling of our project, including a focus on women veterans, military sexual trauma, and homelessness.
*The National VA supports our projects and considers it one of the best first-line treatments.
*The project is a third-phase project and is going ahead with a legislative proposal.
4. Announcements
*Veterans Day on the Hill is March 12th.
*It is 60 days to the next Honor Flight. It will be the 20th Honor Flight for Minnesota. It will be held in April. More information will be forthcoming.
*There will be a service provider meeting on February 13th from noon to 2 PM at the VFW in Uptown.
5. Meeting in Recess for five minutes
Next meeting March 7, 2018. Treasurer’s Report as of 1 February 2018
Balance as of 1 January 2018 $2,604.52
Deposits for January 2018 $100.00
Expenses for January 2018
Transcription Expense $165,00
Postage $9.80
Admin Supplies $15.32
Total Expenses ($190.12)
Balance as of 1 February, 2018 $2,889.40
Submitted by Donald Rask, Treasurer UVLC